Embodiments of the present invention relate to aircraft navigation. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a touch screen navigation and flight planning device.
Aircraft pilots typically create flight plans prior to departure including basic information such as departure and arrival airports, enroute waypoints, and approach, arrival and/or departure procedures.
A flight plan is a sequential series of waypoints through which the aircraft will travel. A waypoint may coincide with an airport or other existing ground landmarks, or may represent an imaginary point in the sky, such as a point where two radio signals intersect. Waypoints may be stored in a memory storage device of the aircraft for use by the pilot and/or the aircraft during flight.
Flight paths may be planned along pre-defined three-dimensional pathways in the sky called airways. Additionally, there are typically rules governing airway routing, covering altitude, airspeed, and requirements for entering and leaving the airway. Airways may intersect at navigational aids (navaids), at which the aircraft may change from one airway to another.
Maps and waypoints illustrating the flight plan may be provided to the pilot via a graphical display housed within a cockpit of the aircraft. The graphical display can be in communication with the memory storage device and some sort of user input, so that the pilot may view the flight plan, add waypoints to a flight plan, delete waypoints from a flight plan, invert a flight plan (for a return trip) or create a new flight plan to be viewed on the graphical display. The user input generally comprises physical controls such as one or more of a knob, a button, a joystick, a keyboard, a tracking ball, or other external devices.